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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

No, I like my Avant Grand N2, but I miss the feel of an acoustic piano. I am looking for a small grand, around 158 cm. I had a Mason Hamlin BB in the US, and I really miss that mellow, rich sound. I do not have the space (or budget) for anything nearly that big or powerful. The AG is an excellent practice piano, but I find it does not have the touch or tone that I would like. It is a compromise that is perfect living in an apartment. I intend to keep it as well for silent practice. However, if I can have a small grand, that would be wonderful.

Yay, I can finally post an achievement! I can now say that I'm officially done with Alfred's book 2!

I will keep practicing a few favorite pieces, but starting next Monday I will be on book 3. I sketched a plan for the rest of the year featuring a mix of Alfred's + sight-reading + technique + ear playing and I'm pretty excited by it

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Diana & Wally - Yamaha W110BWMartha Argerich... is an incarnation of the artistic metaphor of the "eternal feminine" that draws us upward. (Sergio Sablich)

Pareto principle...sure that makes sense that it works with piano as well. I haven't had a lesson in weeks...work interferes with my Friday morning time slot. I've still be assigning myself challenges. Last week when I was at the Piano Celebration at the university I met a woman who teaches. We talked about what we're working on and I shared that I have picked up the level 2 book to accomplish those simpler pieces up to tempo (I'd never had even a little Mozart or Beethoven up to tempo). Her opinion: "can't be done, you can't accomplish speed as an adult". Taken aback I chose to disagree with her because I believe that with practice, correct technique and brain plasticity...anything (well almost) is possible. My accomplishment??? The Mozart Menuetto I in C Major is at 112 bpm. Whooohoooo. The Beethoven? It's in 2/4 time so only at half time so far. I think it's progress.

Her opinion: "can't be done, you can't accomplish speed as an adult". Taken aback I chose to disagree with her because I believe that with practice, correct technique and brain plasticity...anything (well almost) is possible...

Her idea of speed may be quite different from ours.

Good work ignoring her and working on tempo!

_________________________Ladies and Gentlemen: This is not a competition, merely an exhibition. No wagering please.

Thanks Malkin...I don't imagine being a virtuoso BUT would like to play intermediate pieces at the tempo in which they were imagined. My fingers start to jumble it up when I get going. Reminds me of being on the ski slopes and the "whoa wait a minute I'd get from the brain" when I'd go too fast. My brain must like a more leisurely tempo. LOL

Was it SwissMS or Saranoya who made their first video? Congrats--- I know you're both in the recital and I'm looking forward to your pieces.

For all the new comers to the recital---Relax! :)Your pieces will be well received!!

Jim- congrats on being passed on your Moonlight!

Wisebuff - I really disagree with the woman who told you that as an adult you can't work at speed. Of course there will be differences between an adult beginner and someone who starts at a later age, but just yesterday my teacher was going on about "when we get to faster pieces" "when you have to play 16th notes at tempo" and so on.... so he FULLY expects me to play a lot faster than I do now. (the mere thought of if terrifies me! ack!!!)

I am now working on giving some better phrasing and expression to Melody, and (haning head) have not made much progress on the barocque piece. I had a lot of trouble getting my head around it. I'm "just" starting to feel that it can and will come together. AFter next week I hope to put them both aside (in terms of "homework" ) and buckle down with the Stephen Heller piece...which I find very intimidating.

_________________________ XVIII-XXXVISometimes I try to progress faster than I am ready for.SwissMsFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90

Ah, and Torquendale...of course! If I have a party you'd be invited..you were one of the 3 I was talking about! lol

I don't think very many of us have much experience playing in public - especially in Italy. It is harder for an adult to get to play in a "saggio". Thank goodness we have our PW ABF Recital!

_________________________ XVIII-XXXVISometimes I try to progress faster than I am ready for.SwissMsFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90

WiseBuff - I'm with you - what a thing to say about tempo! It's a good thing nobody ever told me that - I wouldn't have been able to play for dances ever! Pfftt!

Cathy

And I'm with you, Cathy. I appreciate my teacher for more reasons than I can count (which is rather remarkable, given the fact that we've known each other for all of five months), but one of the main ones is that she has only ever told me "I believe you can do this."

I played a tiny, rather cute Mozart minuet at the Christmas recital (at 135 BPM, as written). She'd never heard me play it without some kind of mistake *somewhere* (I tend to be very nervous in class, with her as my audience of one, which leads to many mistakes I otherwise don't make), and yet she kept telling me I could do it. At the recital, I did do it, and I've been able to play that piece note-perfect, with or without an audience, ever since. That's largely because my teacher never stopped believing in me.

When I asked her if I could do the first movement of Moonlight, she said it wasn't exactly easy, but that we coud definitely work on it. And then last week, when I expressed my doubts about whether I'd be able to do the second movement, too, she said again: of course you can do it!

So if this woman we are talking about has adult piano students, I pity them. They'd be better off with someone who didn't have such preconceived notions about what adult learners can and can't do.

On the other hand, in general, the best way to get me to do something quickly and decisively is to tell me I'm incapable of it. But then the pressure is on to prove whoever said that wrong, and in my piano studies, I fear that kind of pressure would make me into my own worst enemy.

And I'm with you, Cathy. I appreciate my teacher for more reasons than I can count (which is rather remarkable, given the fact that we've known each other for all of five months), but one of the main ones is that she has only ever told me "I believe you can do this."

Saranoya, I completely agree with you on this. The right teacher can make all the difference. I am also so thankful for my teacher because she enthusiastically challenges and believes in me. This is my second teacher since moving to Switzerland and she is a keeper. With my former teacher I often left my lesson feeling very down, like I could never do well enough to please her. This teacher has the attitude that if I am willing to put in the practice time, she is willing to take me where I want to go. She is always talking about what I need to work on in my technique to get the skill for the next level. She certainly doesn't see adults as "limited" students in speed or anything else. Her faith in me helps me believe I can do it.

Oh, Allard thanks again and again and then some more. I have been working on this for an hour or so today and I can play the first 12 measures BH and the next four with the RH alone. . This score is from Alfred's Book six that she copied for me. Not a big AOTW but just wait, I'm not quite as good as David Lanz of course and have about as much chance of that as Custer had at the Little Big Horn. I think it get a touch harder now!

Ragdoll, you're learning to play this? Awesome! I can play... uhm, the first measure, Pretty sweet that it's in one of the Alfred books. I don't know if the score differs from the Sacred Road book I have. The first page looks fairly easy. The double notes then are still a bit tricky for me. And those FF 16th notes six pages in look scary. Good luck!

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David Lanz - Dark HorseYiruma - River Flows In You

..Of course there will be differences between an adult beginner and someone who starts at a later age...

You mean, like my age?

I think you're fishing for compliments Ok! Happy to oblige

You're not that much older, if memory serves - and you're certainly a great example of what the possibilities are for a laterR starter.

_________________________ XVIII-XXXVISometimes I try to progress faster than I am ready for.SwissMsFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90

My AOTW - although it was not intentional I managed to corrupt the find recital thread.

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Solo - Rachmaninoff Elegie Op 3 #1, Schumann Op 12 Warum, Grillen and a few short pieces by various composersCollaboration - Concerto in C for Oboe and orchestra attributed to Haydn edited by Evelyn Rosewell and some duets

Pretty sweet that it's in one of the Alfred books. I don't know if the score differs from the Sacred Road book I have.

Yes I'm going to attempt this, though certainly not by Spring Recital.

I'm not familiar with the book "Sacred Road" but I doubt the score is the same as there's no six pages to mine . It's only 48 measures in 4 pages. It's the first piece in Alfred's book 6...not to say I have completed the other 5. I still work in several books skipping merrily around trying to find things that both challenge and are interesting or both.

Thanks for your kind words, it will take me awhile to learn this to be sure.

Chris, glad you had a wonderful lesson. It's amazing how understanding hits us from time to time. Unlike children, that's something brings joy to adults and get us going.

I don't have any achievement yet but am happy that I managed to get a time off today. Was a hard week. It's amazing I got recovered from bad cold I had last week. I have lots of things to do today to prepare for my party but it's all fun thing (yay!). I don't need finish critical presentation while listening to a conference call and also Instant Messaging with my reports. And there is a beautiful day outside:)

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Solo - Rachmaninoff Elegie Op 3 #1, Schumann Op 12 Warum, Grillen and a few short pieces by various composersCollaboration - Concerto in C for Oboe and orchestra attributed to Haydn edited by Evelyn Rosewell and some duets

Ragdoll - sounds like you are really working to experiment and try out new kinds of music - what fun - and what fun you will have with each piece - they all have something wonderful to teach us!

Chris - isn't that exciting! To know enough about something to discuss it, compare it to other pieces with things in common - to be able to look at it with new eyes and hear it with educated ears. Really, it is just thrilling.

Farmgirl - you sure did sidetrack the recital thread!But let's be fair... you had a lot of help !!!I can't wait to hear all about your piano party! Best wishes for a fantastic time!

_________________________ XVIII-XXXVISometimes I try to progress faster than I am ready for.SwissMsFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90

Well, this isn't one of those "Eureka!" moments but just a tiny progression that makes all the fun of practicing so worth it.

I practice each hand separately before putting a piece together. In fact, since I have a DP and recording and playback are so easy, I record each hand alone and play the other hand along during playback. Last night I decided it was time to put the piece all together. So, I set the metronome waaaaay down, and had at it. Woot! Made it all the way through, albeit slowly, but with no mistakes and a great feeling of accomplishment. Now it's just a matter of bumping up the tempo a little till she's up to speed.

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Solo - Rachmaninoff Elegie Op 3 #1, Schumann Op 12 Warum, Grillen and a few short pieces by various composersCollaboration - Concerto in C for Oboe and orchestra attributed to Haydn edited by Evelyn Rosewell and some duets

That's a nice Lab FarmGirl and her cry for attention is sweet. I caught that frame of "her" piano? My granddaughter outgrew her tiny piano and now it belongs to my dog. Yours/hers looks like a Schoenhut?, so's Jessie's but it's little polished ebony upright. Erm, maybe not so polished now.